


To Prove My Way

by bluesparkle19girl



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Battle Nexus (TMNT), Brother Feels, Diary/Journal, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Little Brothers, Mikey centric, Plans for Memory Alteration, Raph can tell when something is off, Raph is a good bro, Running Away, S07E12 Super Power Struggle, Self-Doubt, Self-Worth, Self-Worth Issues, Turtle Titan, Understanding, the green mantle, the justice force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 18:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20894330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesparkle19girl/pseuds/bluesparkle19girl
Summary: Mikey often heads to The Justice Force Headquarters to take a break form his family. This time he heads down there to  make a choice.





	To Prove My Way

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write this for ages and finally got around to putting it on paper.  
Mikey deserves all the love in the world.

Mikey looked at the medal from The Battle Nexus and the fact that he was The Turtle-Titan with a sense of pride. He finally proved his worth to his family. It was better than constantly feeling like the family was better off without him. The joking about him being the champion still happened, but it was manageable. Besides, he knew that he could always leave if things got too bad.

It’s fire and ice inside of his head, half of the time he is his normal self, cool, confident, fun-loving, funny. The side of his mind that is fire, tells him he needs to prove himself, needs to prove he deserves to be part of the family. It’s a vicious cycle, one that only Mikey knows like the back of his hand, and that is how he would like it to stay. For his own sake, as well as the family. They have enough to worry about, without him adding more stress to the pile.

Mikey ends up sneaking out to North Hampton with his Turtle-Titan costume, and leaves a note for his family saying that The Justice Force needs his help. He goes to The Justice Force headquarters frequently, he does this so he can get away from the family and feel like his own person. He knows The Justice Force sees the four of them as a team that cannot be torn apart under any circumstances, he agrees with them for the most part, but when things get heated at home, he uses The Justice Force as a plan b for himself if he ever decides that he’s better off doing things solo.

* * *

When Mikey arrives at The Justice Force headquarters, he takes a deep breath and heads inside. The Justice Force greets him and asks him what he’s doing here.

“Just passing through, thought I’d see how you dudes were doing.” Mikey says with a bright smile.

Mikey stays the night, sitting in a guest bedroom, trying to figure things out. The events that led him to being here was the fact that, he felt like he was a burden. He knows that The Justice Force are going to get concerned if he stays here permanently. He has something that can make things different, but he doesn’t know if he was willing to pay the price. Mikey decides that he’ll figure things out in the morning.

* * *

For every problem there is a breaking point, when morning comes, Raph, Leo, and Donnie have found the note and are discussing what to do. 

“Why the shell did Mike leave a note? He would have told us.” Raph says.

“He’s done this before, I’m sure he’s fine.” Donnie says calmly.

“Don’s right, I’m sure things are fine. Besides, he has his shell-cell, if he needs us, he can call us.” Leo says.

Then the three of them go their separate ways. Raph heads to his bike, for all of his faults, Raph knows when something smells fishy. So, he’s heading to The Justice Force headquarters to get some answers. 

* * *

When he gets there, he sees Mikey training outside. He looks around and is relieved to see that Mikey is alone. He doesn’t know what he’d tell The Justice Force if they were there. He knows that, The Justice Force believes that his brothers are a team that is not to be separated, Raph agrees with them, but he knows deep inside that, Mikey is happier when he is away. Raph will never admit it to his brothers, but sometimes, he wonders what Mikey would say if he was given the option to leave.

“Hey, Mikey.” Raph says.

Mikey spins around and looks at Raph, eyes wide with shock, “Oh, hey, Raph. What are you doing here?”

“I know something is wrong. You always say something before you leave. The only time you don’t is when you’re on solo patrol, or get so enamored with something that you forget to tell us.” Raph says.

Mikey sighs, “Alright, before you say anything, I just want to say nothing was going to happen. I would never do anything that would hurt the family.”

“What the shell are you talking about?” Raph asks confused.

“The fact that the three of you found my journal, what are you talking about?” Mikey asks just as confused as Raph.

“The fact that The Justice Force needed help, if that was true The Justice Force would call for all hands-on deck.” Raph says.

“Back to earlier, what is in the journal that made you think we’d panic?” Raph inquires.

“I did some snooping when we busted Bishop once, and found a memory-erasing gun. Once I found it, I kept it and when I left, I took it with me. I’ve been thinking about using it for a long time.” Mikey says matter-of-factly.

“What?!” Raph says generally shocked. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought when I first considered it.” Mikey replies, speaking like the fact is common knowledge to everyone.

“And now?” Raph inquired fearfully.

“Now, I often consider it.” Mikey says sadly.

“Why?” Raph asks.

“I feel like I don’t contribute anything to the family. I’m just the joker, the lazy one, the wild one. But when I am The Turtle-Titian and The Battle Nexus Campion, I feel happy, important, and better about myself.” Mikey answers with an air of joy and a bright smile evident as he speaks.

“How did we miss this?” Raph asks, unsure if it’s a good idea to try and push things.

“I’m good at hiding things. Besides, we had more important things to worry about.” Mikey replies, like he is used to having to put his needs on the back burner. 

“Did you ever try to tell us?” Raph inquires.

“The Green Mantle.” Mikey answers, like it’s obvious.

Raph is about to ask what he means when he remembers, the fact that they were so petty about the cape is one thing, making Mikey snap and beat him and fight until the cape ripped is another. But the thing that stuck with Raph, was Mikey saying in a heart-breaking voice, _“I need this.”_ It was like being a hero was the only thing that Mikey had in the world. 

“Mikey, this isn’t okay, you matter to all of us.” Raph says sadly, then he pulls Mikey into a tight embrace.

“I know, at the end of the day, I’m fine with the way things are, but sometimes...” Mikey says.

“You wonder.” Raph finishes.

Mikey nods, “I wonder and then I feel guilty.”

“What are you going to do?” Raph asks.

“I don’t know, I don’t want to worry the family, but I hate keeping quiet.” Mikey says.

“Alright, we’re going back home, and we are having a conversation with the family.” Raph says.

“You won’t tell them about the memory-erasing gun, right?” Mikey inquires, as he climbs onto Raph’s bike.

“I won’t, promise.” Raph answers.

* * *

When they get back and explain everything, Leo and Donnie are shocked. Then they feel guilty that they were ignoring the fact that Mikey had incredibly low self-worth.

“I’m so sorry Mikey.” Leo says

“I'm sorry too, we should have never ignored your feelings.” Donnie says.

“It’s not anyone’s fault, everyone in this family has other things to worry about, and I didn’t want to be a burden.”

“You aren’t a burden, you’re our brother, and we love you, idiot.” Raph says, while smacking him on the back of his head lightly.

“Raph is right, we will work on this and help you.” Leo says.

“Yeah, we will work on this, you deserve it.” Donnie says.

“Thanks Bros.” Mikey says.

Then the brothers pull Mikey into a tight embrace. 

It will be a long road ahead, the four of them know it, but they know that in the end, it will be worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is welcome :)


End file.
